FTC Investigating Claims of Products’ Ecological Safety

In a rare public acknowledgement of a continuing investigation, Federal Trade Commission Chairman Janet D. Steiger said Friday that the agency is looking into advertising claims of an increasing array of products that bill themselves as environmentally safe.

“Consumers who buy ‘environmentally friendly’ products in hopes of bettering the environment cannot themselves judge whether such products will deliver the promised benefits,” Steiger said during a speech in Washington to the Consumer Federation of America.

Several environmental activists have charged that many consumer products, including diapers and trash bags, are not all that their makers claim in terms of how they are made and how quickly and completely they degrade when they are thrown away.

The FTC, along with eight state attorneys general, has asked “a number of companies to substantiate their environmental claims,” Steiger told the group. The FTC “will vigorously pursue deceptive advertising on a variety of fronts,” she said.

The eight attorneys general--from California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin--sponsored a forum last Wednesday and Thursday on environmental marketing to try to determine problems and solutions in the growing push for “green” (environmentally safe) products and packaging.